Seaside Homes, Portofino, Italy
photo via patricia
Here’s a wish I didn’t know I had, to own such a home. Can you imagine starting your day with a swim in this tourmaline water? Then up to the patio to breakfast and consider your day. Yes, I could wish for such a thing.
This is a favourite spot of mine, taken from the school in Elgol (Isle of Skye) looking to the Cuillins and Loch Coruisk. There’s something special about this spot and the stones on the beach are full of small quartz crystals and geodes. I always felt my happiness would be complete if I could have a little cottage on just such a beach, with all the drama and beauty of the weather before me, and the ancient hills reflected off the water….
(Photo source, click here.)
In response to miss-sardonic and her comment about “Man Makes the Clothes” (click on the title to read full piece): “I’ve wondered about this myself. I usually say that I abhor nudity, but I have wondered why this is. Also, I agree that we are sending mixed messages. We don’t bat an eyelash at sexual violence but breast feeding is “scandalous.”
The image of one fallen woman in The Scarlet Letter well illustrates how those who display non sexualised nudity are treated. Thank you for your excellent comment. I know this from personal experience as I breastfed both of my children. When the second one was less than a month old, I found myself in Asda one day. For North Americans, this is a child of the Walmart chain. I knew I wouldn’t get through the shopping if I didn’t stop and feed the baby, so I bought a biscuit and a cup of tea and sat down in a quiet corner of the cafe. The interesting thing about this story is there was no nudity involved, all was covered. If you had looked closely, you would have seen the top of my daughter’s head and her lying in my arms. Nonetheless, I was asked to leave and it was suggested I would be more comfortable in the appointed room, essentially, a toilet (washroom). I declined repeatedly as the Manager didn’t give up easily. Some women flaunt this activity and their partial nudity to make a point, but I was not one of them. Functional and natural or not, this was still my breast and I wasn’t going to put it on public display. It seemed I had committed a crime against Calvinistic conservatism due to implied nudity, and a warped perception of the activity itself being sexual.
For those who may be interested in the current status of the Naked Rambler, Stephen Gough, click here to read the full London Evening Standard piece.
© S. Marian, Oct 23, 2012 (Click anywhere on the excerpt for a link to the full piece)
“Nakedness is newsworthy in our world, criminal, and unless it’s expressed sexually, deeply suspect.”
© S. Marian, Oct. 23, 2012
An excerpt from a piece titled “Man Makes the Clothes,” to be found on “A View From Outside the Box,” url: adialogue. Click here to view full piece.
“We do give mixed and disturbing messages to our young, living in a highly sexualised time, where we hardly notice gratuitous sex and violence, but the sight of a naked man is flagrant criminal behaviour. ’One radio commentator remarked that this was a matter of protecting our children, as Mr. Gough could be a paedophile, thus implying that clothing is an indicator of healthy sexuality.”
© S. Marian, Oct. 23, 2012
An excerpt from a piece titled, “Man Makes the Clothes,” to be found on “A View From Outside the Box,” url: adialogue. To view full piece click here.
(For photo source click here)
“I can’t deny that I would feel vulnerable and embarrassed to be fully revealed in a public place; clothes provide a kind of armour. ’It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes.’ Thoreau makes a valuable point, clothing is more than something we hide behind; it also communicates our position in a myriad of ways.”
© S. Marian, Oct 23, 2012
An excerpt from a piece titled “Man Makes the Clothes,” to be found on “A View From Outside the Box,” url: adialogue. Click here to view full piece.
(A bit of 70’s fun, “Running Bare,” by Jim Nesbitt)
I’ve woken up these last few mornings feeling like I’ve been on Skye during the night. Some say it’s possible to astral travel, to go wherever you want when you sleep. I’d opt for a conscious journey, even time travel would do. I’d spirit myself away to a beach on the gorgeous west coast of Scotland, sand between my toes and me, gazing out on the blue green water. Whether your journey be astral, through time or in real time experience - just go, you won’t be sorry you did.
What do Sigmund Freud, toothache, dreams and serial killers have in common? Read on and all will be revealed. Yesterday while I sat waiting in the naturopath’s office, I picked up one of the worthy magazines. I would prefer something less wholesome and more diverting, and normally bring a book. I had selected a naturopath’s publication and was drawn by “Maria’s story.” She’d gone to her practitioner because she had toothache. She preferred not to visit the dentist as she was a dental phobic. The next part is what I found facinating. The naturopath told her that all answers to all potential questions about our health can be accessed, we simply can’t store them in our conscious memory. She was instructed to repeat the question to herself, “Why do I have toothache,” four of five times before going to sleep. Finally, she was to keep a pen and paper near the bed and any dreams she had would hold the answer.
Maria’s toothache was terrible and now she was suffering from persistent nerve pain as well. She went to bed, repeated the question and fell asleep. In the morning, she jotted down her dream and some days later, visited her naturopath. The pain was even worse and she was really suffering. After asking her how she was feeling, he inquired about her dreams. She told him she’d had one that night, but it didn’t reveal anything and made no sense. She went on to describe a dream involving a dog and some other people, a man who she somehow knew to be a serial killer. She said, “You see, it doesn’t help.” He thought about it for a moment and then told her, the message was in her dream, in a phonetic interpretation of the key words, “serial killer.” He said it could also mean “cereal killer,” and that her body was trying to tell her that she was intolerant to cereals.
Maria left and cut out cereals from her diet for a while and her toothache disappeared. I really don’t know what to think about this story. Naturopaths can test for food intolerances and that would seem a simpler solution. Freud, Jung and other notables in the field of psychology and dream analysis would agree, much meaning is to be derived from dreams. How valuable are they? What messages and meaning, if any, do they hold?
